PREPARATION OF A DRAFT
INTER-AMERICAN CONVENTION AGAINST RACISM AND ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AND INTOLERANCE

(Resolution adopted at the first plenary
session, held on June 5, 2000)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

CONSIDERING that Article II of the
American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, signed in Bogotá in 1948, states
that all persons are equal before the law and have the rights and duties established in
that declaration, without distinction as to race, language, creed, or any other factor;

HAVING SEEN that the American Convention
on Human Rights, signed in San José, Costa Rica, in 1969, prohibits, in Articles 1 and 2,
discrimination for reasons of race, color, sex, religion, social origin, or any other
social condition;

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT that operative
paragraph 3 of resolution AG/RES. 1271 (XXIV-O/94) calls on the various organs, agencies,
and entities of the OAS to adopt timely and effective measures to foster tolerance and
eliminate racist and discriminatory behavior;

RECALLING that the International
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination was adopted by the
United Nations in 1965 and that plans are being made to hold the World Conference against
Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance in South Africa in
2001, as well as regional and subregional meetings in preparation for that Conference;

FURTHER TAKING INTO ACCOUNT resolution
AG/RES. 1695 (XXIX-O/99), which urges member states to support the efforts to organize the
World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related
Intolerance;

CONSIDERING that it is imperative that the
international legal framework be expanded and that national legislation be reinforced with
a view to eliminating all forms of discrimination still existing in the Hemisphere;

BEARING IN MIND the diversity of ethnic
groups and cultures that enhance societies in the Hemisphere as well as the advisability
of promoting harmonious relations among all of them; and

CONSIDERING that the Organization should
send a clear political signal in favor of eliminating all forms of discrimination,

RESOLVES:

1. To entrust the Permanent Council with
studying the need to prepare a draft inter-American convention to prevent, punish, and
eradicate racism and all forms of discrimination and intolerance, with a view to
submitting the matter to the General Assembly at its thirty-first regular session for
consideration; and to direct that, for this purpose, the Permanent Council may consult the
organs of the inter-American system and take into account the contributions of civil
society, as well as the preparatory work for the World Conference against Racism, Racial
Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance.

2. To urge member states to support
activities for organizing the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination,
Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance, which will be held in South Africa in 2001.

3. To recommend to the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) that it continue to give special attention to this
topic within the framework of inter-American legal instruments in force.

4. To instruct the Permanent Council to
report to the General Assembly at its thirty-first regular session on the fulfillment of
this resolution.